Electronic chassis which house electronic components for high-speed telecommunication and networking applications typically include a plurality of vertically oriented circuit boards. When fully inserted into the chassis, these vertically oriented circuit boards are electrically connected to another circuit board, commonly referred to as a backplane circuit board. The backplane circuit board is positioned along the backside of the electronic chassis.
The backplane circuit board is then typically connected to a data network such as, for example, a telephone network. This may be accomplished by providing an array of wire wrap pins that are electrically connected to the backplane circuit board and extend outward from the outside surface of the backplane circuit board. Electronic data is transferred to and from the backplane circuit board by connecting input wires to the array of pins. However, this arrangement results in increased manufacturing costs due to the large number of discrete components that are required. Moreover, the process of connecting all of the input wires to the array of pins is labor intensive, which also increases manufacturing costs.
Attempts have been made to provide a plurality of connectors that are mounted on the outside surface of the backplane circuit board and are electrically connected to the backplane circuit board. The connectors receive input cables, which transmit data to and from the backplane circuit board. Each of the connectors mounted on the backplane circuit board typically includes 25 pairs of pins, each pair including one pin for transmitting data and another pin for receiving data. As a result, connections to the backplane circuit board can only be made if the connectors of the input cables are compatible with the connectors mounted on the backplane circuit board. In other words, each of the connectors of the input cables must also have 25 pairs of pins, each pair including one pin for transmitting data and another pin for receiving data. Problems arise, however, if the connectors of the input cables are not compatible with the connectors mounted on the backplane circuit board. For example, an input cable may have a connector that is comprised of 50 pins that only transmit data, while another input cable may have a connector that is comprised of 50 pins that only receive data. In this scenario, there is typically no practical way to make electrical connections between the input cables and the connectors mounted on the backplane circuit board.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have an adapter apparatus and method of transmitting data that overcomes the disadvantages described above.